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Objectives and Achievement Levels

The MA programme in Philosophy 60 EC has the following objectives:

with respect to knowledge, understanding and their applications
1. to impart scholarly knowledge, insight, methods, and skills in the field of philosophy, building on the foundations laid in the BA-programme in Philosophy;
2. to impart a scholarly attitude, which is characterized by the student’s capacity to:

engage in individual and independent academic thought and action;

analyse complex problems;

write academic reports;

apply specialist skills in an intellectual and social context.

with respect to a career:

to prepare students for the educational master’s programme in philosophy;

to prepare students for professions in which philosophical knowledge, insight and skills have added value;

to prepare students to some extent for an academic career and for postgraduate education, in particular for a PhD project;

to prepare students for any non-academic career for which general academic skills such as abstraction skills, heuristic capability and creativity are required.

Achievement levels

Graduates of the MA programme in Philosopy 60 EC will have reached the following achievement levels:

Knowledge, understanding and their applications

knowledge and understanding in the field of systematic philosophy and its history as well as of developments in contemporary philosophy that are based on the bachelor’s programme, surpass the level of the latter and form the basis of the independent development and application of original ideas, understanding and analyses;

awareness of recent discussions in the field of their specialisation in philosophy and are able to make their own contribution here;

the ability, on the basis of the knowledge and understanding of philosophy they have acquired, to make their own contribution to current discussions within the discipline of philosophy and within new and complex contexts related to philosophy;

Judgement

the ability, on the basis of the deepened knowledge of philosophy acquired during the programme, are able to deal with complex philosophical problems and formulate judgments based on information from different kinds of source, even when this information is incomplete or uncertain;

a realistic view of the reliability of their own conclusions;

the ability to integrate different approaches to philosophical questions and/or compare them with each other.

Communication

the ability to give a clear explanation of philosophical problems, ideas, theories, interpretations and arguments. This is for both a specialist and non-specialist audience, in English as well as, for Dutch-speaking students, in Dutch;

the ability to write philosophical papers that show the potential to approach the level of articles in national and international academic journals in the field of philosophy.

Learning skills

the possession of learning skills that allow the graduate to continue her study of philosophy more or less independently within a research context as well as to draw up a research proposal for a PhD.

Programme

The Leiden Institute for Philosophy represents a wide range of research interests, enabling students in the one-year MA Programme in Philosophy to take courses in the History of Philosophy, Logic, Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Mind and Cognition, Ethics and Political Philosophy, Philosophical Anthropology, and Cultural Philosophy.

Students in the MA Philosophy (60 EC), specialisations History and Philosophy of the Sciences, Ethics & Politics, and Philosophical Anthropology & Philosophy of Culture follow one mandatory research seminar (10 EC) and three optional courses (each 10 EC). The programme will be concluded by a master’s thesis of 20 EC.

Studens follow the research seminar that is compulsory for their specialisation. Additionally, students select three optional courses (each 10 EC). At least one of these optional courses must be part of their specialisation. Not more than two of the four courses (including the research seminar) can have the same instructor. The topics of the optional courses are varying each year.

Structure specialisation Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE)

Students in the MA Philosophy (60 EC), specialisation Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) follow two compulsory core seminars (each 10 EC), one of which is a research seminar, and three optional courses (each 10 EC).The programme will be concluded by a master’s thesis of 10 EC.

The optional courses offered within the programme are organised in three pathways: Politics and Philosophy (PP), Economics and Philosophy (EP), and Integrative and Transdisciplinary courses (IT). Students can specialise in PP, EP or IT subjects by taking two courses in either one of the pathways.

Internship

Students are allowed to include an internship of not more than 10 EC in their MA programme. The internship will replace one of the three optional courses of 10 EC.

Full-time and part-time

The programme offers both full-time and part-time tuition. The part-time programme is offered as a daytime course. The full-time programme spans one year, the part-time programme a year and a half. The only difference between the two programmes is in the length of time required for their completion; in content they are identical.

Master’s thesis and requirements for graduation

Specialisations

The MA programme in Philosophy 60 EC consists of the following specialisations:

History and Philosophy of the Sciences

Ethics and Politics

Philosophical Anthropology and Philosophy of Culture

Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE)

For studens in the specialisations History and Philosophy of the Sciences, Ethics & Politics, and Philosophical Anthropology & Philosophy of Culture the mandatory research seminar, at least one of the optional courses, as well as the subject of their master’s thesis must belong to the field of their specialisation.

Studens in the specialisation PPE are obliged to complete the two compulsory core seminars and select three optional courses from the list of courses on offer for PPE, and the subject of their thesis must belong to the field Philosophy, Politics and Economics.

Master’s thesis and requirements for graduation

Requirements for graduation

In order to graduate, students must have successfully completed the 60 EC programme and have completed their final thesis as a component of that programme. The master’s thesis is an independent academic contribution to philosophy in the field of the chosen specialisation. The student is required to write a master’s thesis in the second semester of the MA programme in Philosophy 60 EC. (For students starting their MA programme in February, the second semester will be the Fall semester.)

Attainment levels

The master’s thesis should clearly show that the student meets the attainment levels which have been set for this programme in terms of knowledge and skills. More specifically, the master’s thesis and the working method for the thesis should demonstrate that the student:

has acquired knowledge of systematic philosophy and its history, and of recent developments in contemporary philosophy, that is founded upon and extends that associated with the bachelor’s level, and that provides a basis for originality in developing and applying original ideas and analyses;

knows the discussions in the forefront of their field, and is able to take part in them;

is able to contribute to current discussions on philosophy and in new and complex contexts related to philosophy;

is able to handle philosophical complexity and to formulate judgments based on information from diverse sources, even if this information is limited or incomplete;

has a realistic view of the tenability and reliability of his/her own conclusions;

is able to integrate or confront different approaches to philosophical questions;

in short, is able to write philosophical papers, the quality of which comes close to that of articles in refereed journals in the field.

Formal requirements and assessment criteria

The thesis for the Master’s programme in Philosophy 60 EC has a workload of 20 ECs, and the length of the thesis is normally approximately 20,000 words, except for the thesis vor the specialisation Philosophy, Politics and Economics, which has a workload of 10 ECs, and length of approximately 10,000 words. Depending on the subject, the student and the supervisor may agree on a different length. Other formal requirements that the thesis must satisfy are listed in the Protocol Graduation Phase MA in Philosophy

Agreements and Supervision

The thesis must be supervised by a staff member of the Leiden Institute for Philosophy. The agreements relating to the planning and supervision of the writing of the MA thesis are set out in writing by the student and the supervisor in the Agreements relating to the MA thesis form- . The agreements include details on the choice of subject of the thesis, on the frequency of sessions with the thesis supervisor and the manner of supervision, and on the phasing of the research leading up to the thesis.

Final examination

The master’s thesis shall be defended as part of the final examination. The grade of the master’s thesis is determined by the examiners after the questioning (defense of the thesis) in the MA examination. The final examination may be held at any time during the academic year. However, graduation within the current academic year is only possible if the final draft of the thesis has been approved by the supervisor and sent to the Board of Examiners no later than June 15th.

The master’s thesis of the MA specialisation Philosophy, Politics and Economic shall not be defended as part of the final examination with an individual MA exam.

Additional programmes

In addition to their MA programme in Philosophy 60 EC students who have obtained a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy as well are qualified to follow the teacher-training in Philosophy: a preparation for a career in high school education or in MBO (intermediate vocational) education. On completion of this MA programme students obtain a second master’s degree and a high-school teaching qualification (eerstegraads lesbevoegdheid) in philosophy. Please note that students who have completed an Educational Minor as their optional subject, are allowed to follow a fast-track Educational Master’s Programme (30 EC instead of 60 EC). For more information, see ICLON

Students awarded a master’s degree are eligible to pursue a doctorate. Information about the PhD programme is available on the institute’s website.